The Family Resource Centers of Bristol received a Community Development Block Grant in the amount of $1,000 to help support the Family Assessment
Support Team (FAST) to assist low- to moderate-income families in the Bristol Public Schools.
The FAST program provides basic needs referrals/services, mental health services, summer enrichment opportunities for children, back to school supplies, holiday assistance, school-based mentoring, and home-based virtual parenting education to families through the Family Resource Centers (FRCs) located at Greene-Hills, West Bristol, and South Side schools. The Bristol FRCs serve families residing in very low income areas providing collaborative, integrated and comprehensive services that strengthen families, promote the optimal development of children, and create strong school-family-community partnerships.
The Bristol FRCs are funded by the State Department of Education, numerous local grants, and members of the Bristol community. Every FRC offers services to meet the needs of each individual school.
“Our Bristol Public Schools are focused on the students, and the FRCs expand that reach to focus on the whole family,” said Sandra Godin, Development Director of the Bristol Family Resource Centers. “The work we do with parents and their children will have a positive impact on all their lives.”
The City of Bristol, with funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, has been able to support many programs and services to address decent housing, suitable living environments, and expanded economic opportunities, principally for low- and moderate-income persons.
“For the last 48 years, the CDBG program in Bristol has benefited countless low- and moderate-income families,” said Dawn Leger, Grants Administrator. “These grants to non-profits as well as individual homeowners help Bristol residents live their best lives, with a little assistance from their neighbors.”
Howard Schmelder, a long-time Economic and Community Development board member who likes to remind folks that he was part of Bristol’s original Redevelopment Agency, has nothing but praise for CDBG and the programs it supports. “We’ve seen the long-term results of these programs, and Bristol is a better place because of the grants that we are able to provide.”